It's eight o'clock on Sunday night and I have less than four hours to post my research homework before I am officially late. There's a half-finished PowerPoint blinking at me from the bottom of the screen reminding me that ready or not, on Friday I have a date to interpret Art Chickering's student identity development theory to a group of people who may or may not find it interesting, depending on the presentation. That particular presentation will occur after I show the movie I haven't finished editing and for which I have not yet found an emotional connection. Across the hall, Adel, the Indonesian exchange student is having a melt-down. It's been coming on for almost a week. Naturally, it seems the perfect time to blog.
Of all of these challenges, Adel's is the most compelling. She doesn't want to go backpacking. No, that isn't strong enough. Of all the things in the world the school might ask her to do that go against every fiber of her being, backpacking currently heads the list. She asks me, "Is this a military school for which marching up and down hills carrying your house on your back is necessary for protection of the government?"
"Why can't I stay home and do something useful?" she asks ten minutes later after I explain the value of long encounters with nature, group challenge, facing your fears and defecating with bears. She just keeps shaking her head. She's a very bright and articulate girl and I am not fooling her with this rehashed rhetoric from the school website.
Earlier this afternoon I called in the liaison person from the exchange organization. After two hours of attempted persuasion, we both agreed to meet with her teachers and the head of school to provide support for her arguments. I'm not hopeful, but I'll be there for her. And a lot of what she says makes sense to me.
In the first place, the school doesn't do tent camping. This is unfortunate in the land of endless rain, but it's downright unacceptable for a Muslim girl on a co-ed trip who is afraid of the dark and never lived anywhere where it gets colder than eighty degrees. Second, see my last blog on progressive education and as Adel says, "Where is my voice? Why must I blindly obey what I know I do not like." Yes, Adel already went camping for the school orientation and as she puts it, "Why eat more bugs when I already tried the first plate and know I do not like? How does taking more change this?"
Just now I went to help her pack. She showed me her day pack. "No, you must take everything on the list," I explain. She doesn't argue. I get her an almost big enough back pack, pull out her sleeping bag and pad, begin to ask about the long underwear, rain suit, fleece that we bought two weeks ago. She disintegrates into tears. That's why I'm across the hall, unable to study, powerless to know what to do next.
So here's a tip if you can't find any other way to avoid doing homework. Get yourself a couple of litters of small kittens to foster, a deaf and blind terrier who doesn't prefer to go outside in the rain, a husband with a hernia, a granddaughter who is omniscient and a sweet agoraphobic Indonesian exchange student sponsored by a school that prides itself on its outdoor education program. You may never get around to productive activity but you may have a craving to start a blog.
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